Everything started in 2022.
At that time, I had never photographed a concert before. I had no experience with stage lighting, fast movement, smoke, darkness, changing colors, or the beautiful chaos that happens when a band walks on stage and everything starts moving at once. I also had no idea how to properly set up my camera for this kind of situation. Concert photography was something completely new to me.
My first opportunity came thanks to my friends from the band Rocker Soul. I simply reached out to them and asked if I could take some photos during one of their concerts. It was not a big professional plan, not a carefully prepared portfolio move, and definitely not some perfectly calculated career decision. It was more like: I love music, I like photography, maybe I should try to combine both.
So I came to the concert with my camera and almost no idea what I was doing. Beautiful start, very professional, truly a masterclass in controlled panic.
Back then, I did not have professional concert photography equipment. I was using a Canon 77D with a Sigma 17-50mm f/2.8 lens. It was a simple setup, especially compared to the gear I use today, but it was enough to take the first step. I did not have full-frame performance, advanced autofocus, or the kind of low-light capabilities that make shooting concerts much easier. I had to work with what I had.
And honestly, that was probably the best way to start.
Because when you do not have perfect gear, you are forced to pay attention. You start learning how light behaves. You learn when to press the shutter, when to wait, and when not to panic because the stage suddenly turns completely red and your camera acts like it has personally been offended. You learn that concerts are unpredictable, and that a good photo often appears for less than a second.
During that first show, I was trying to understand everything at once. Shutter speed, ISO, aperture, focus, composition, movement, stage lights, musicians’ expressions, and the general feeling of the performance. I was not only taking photos. I was learning in real time.
I made mistakes. A lot of them.
Some photos were too dark. Some were blurred. Some had strange colors. Some looked better in my head than on the memory card, which is a very humbling experience and probably legally required for every beginner photographer. But even with all those mistakes, there was something in that first concert that made me want to continue.
I realized that concert photography is not just about documenting who was on stage. It is about capturing energy. It is about freezing a moment that disappears immediately. A gesture, a look, a jump, a beam of light, the connection between the band and the audience. It is loud, dark, fast, imperfect, and that is exactly why it is so addictive.
That Rocker Soul concert became the beginning of my journey into concert photography. I did not know it at the time, but that night opened a door for me. From that point, I started paying more attention to live music not only as a listener, but also as a photographer. I began to understand that every concert has its own rhythm, mood, and visual language.
Looking back at those first photos, I can clearly see how much I still had to learn. But I also see something important there: the beginning. The first attempt. The first step from standing in the crowd as a fan to slowly moving toward the world of live music photography.
Below are a few photos from that first concert.
They are not perfect, but they matter to me. They remind me where it all started: with friends, a camera, a small lens, no professional equipment, no real experience, and a lot of curiosity.
And sometimes, that is enough to begin.
